2010/09/22

The Variegated Fairywren (Malurus lamberti) or Weißbauch-Staffelschwanz

The last two weekends Mrs Schmitz and I had the pleasure to camp in direct vicinity of these hyperactive tiny birds which enriched our early mornings with their chirping. Camping is one of the activities I never truly understood until we moved to Australia, a country obviously ideal for a recreational lifestyle based upon nothing else then a tent and a bonfire. Whilst in our native country of Austria camping means cramped caravan parks occupied predominantly by German and Dutch tourists and garden gnomes, soaked by the usual continuous rain, the picture in our adopted country is quite different. First of all - there is more than enough space for everybody. There are innumerable campgrounds, virtually every little town has at least two of them, and there are all the ones located in the also countless National Parks all over the continent. Secondly the weather is almost all year around fine and suited for outdoor living, though Mrs Schmitz will strongly disagree on this point because she thinks it’s far to cold in winter and early spring. Furthermore camping in Australia still is an adventure and a pure experience of nature, something a hopeless romantic like me really appreciates. You always will have visitors, not only feathered like the Variegated Fairywren, but also possums, kangaroos and sometimes goannas. I have to say that not everybody appreciates the company of all the mentioned animals, especially the goannas and some have a habit of ransacking your food supplies, but on the other hand you’ll never see that much wildlife outside a zoo in Europe. And all that is supplemented by the unique landscape of Australia and the unrivalled soundtrack of the bush, a feature our Bird Of The Week likes to contribute to with audible joy.

Next week: The Beautiful Firetail or spring at the firetrail